


HONEY➝ SOLINH

by theunmappedstar



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/F, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Sophie Foster - Freeform, i love these girls, it's pretty bad i'm sorry, keeper of the lost cities - Freeform, kotlc - Freeform, linh song - Freeform, solinh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 08:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16889403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunmappedstar/pseuds/theunmappedstar
Summary: ❝ I LIKE MY GIRLS JUSTLIKE MY HONEY; SWEET,A LITTLE SELFISH ❞linh and sophie both refuse to accept the inevitable.[ lowercase intentional ][ ©2018 theunmappedstar on ao3. all rights reserved. ]





	HONEY➝ SOLINH

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: hey lovelies!
> 
> just as a warning, this oneshot is pretty kiddish or light-hearted. at least... i think so. but don't worry, i have plans to make more serious one-shots for this ship in coming days!
> 
> things to note: this can technically be classified as a "songfic". i use the lyrics from the song "honey" by khelani in this, sooo. . . yep! : )

**_I like my girls just like I like my honey; sweet_ **

**_A little selfish_ **

Linh sought to ignore the thumping of her heart whenever she was around  _her_. Whenever she flashed her dazzling, pearly smile. Whenever she giggled joyously and infectiously spread her happiness. Whenever she popped her earbuds in while the entire gang studied together and she just . . . sang or hummed along as if no one else was in the room. Whenever she did something utterly amazing without even having to think.

Linh told herself to ignore the want to hug her, to be close. She told herself to ignore the rushing of butterflies in her stomach and the heat under her skin when she got to hold hands with her for silly things like light leaping, or saving her from tripping over her own feet.

Linh tried to stop the gushy feeling she got whenever they were doing school projects together and she tied up her blonde hair and turned all studious on her.

Linh tried and tried - she really did. But no matter what, Sophie was always in the corners of her mind.

So, after trying to swallow the crush or deny it was even a thing, she decided to push her attention onto someone else. She couldn't find someone at first, and it wasn't easy, but then her eyes noticed the way Sophie's lit whenever the girl watched her Cognate.

Her heart sunk when she watched their interactions, the enchanted look Sophie always gave him, the way her cheeks blossomed with adorable, glorious colour whenever he'd take her hand or look her directly in the eye.

And Linh knew there was no way what she wanted, deep down, was ever going to happen. So, she tried her best to take a liking to Fitz as well, to put off the sting.

She knew Fitz didn't think of her like that, and she didn't have those kinds of affections herself, so that ship would never sail. But she knew Sophie adored Fitz in a way she desired - ached for.

Linh wanted the talented, gorgeous girl to look at her with the same raw, unfettered emotion in her brown eyes that she gave to the Vacker, but she knew it would never happen. She swallowed her pride and decided to send her best cute, small, half-heartedly flirty gestures towards Fitz in some attempt to make sure Sophie never found out that she. . .

_Liked her._

It was so weird to hear. Such a foreign thought. Linh had always thought she would grow up to like boys, to want to wear their shirts and ruffle their hair - but. . . she wanted the caress of a girl's steady hand, the flash of their exotic hair, their lush, painted lips, their soft whispers, their goofy wild sides, their cute button noses, their fluttering eyelashes, their sweeter-than-honey kisses. . .

Linh Song really liked Sophie Foster. A girl.

**_I like my women like I like my money; green  
A little jealous_ **

Linh had been so desperate to deny the fact that whatever she was feeling was a crush. Sure, the more she thought about it, the more comfortable, even excited, she felt at the thought of having a relationship with a girl - with Sophie. But with that joy and hope also came sadness, despair, and crushed dreams.

When she looked up the definition in the dictionary, she hadn't been expecting to find something that seemed so. . . fitting to her current situation. It was almost as if the damn dictionary was looking right through her and her unconvincing fib.

**Crush:**

**informal**

_a brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone unattainable or inappropriate._

"she did have a crush on Russell"

synonyms: infatuation, obsession, love, passion; puppy love

"a teenage crush"

She ran her finger over the text on the page for a lingering second.

"A brief but intense infatuation of someone, especially someone. . . unattainable," she read aloud staring with a sad, unwavering gaze at the definition. Her voice dropped, and she bit her lower lip.

Linh sat on her makeshift bed on the floor, legs crisscrossed as she gripped the scratchy quilt underneath her with one fist. She had the option of bringing a comfy blanket, but she liked the rough texture of this one. It reminded her of the years her brother and herself had spent banished. It reminded her of how strong they were, and how they could get through anything.

Her other hand held open the dictionary settled in her lap, the pages illuminated with the soft glow of one of Sophie's moon jars.

Sophie had received the dictionary from Alden after the friends had gotten into a dispute over what different English words meant. It was quite the stupid debate, looking back on it, but they had been having fun. After years and years of Neverseen this, and Neverseen that, it was a huge relief to be able to fight over words in the dictionary.

Linh glanced over at all of her friends, sound asleep on the flowered carpet of Sophie's bedroom. They'd had the usual monthly sleepover that they tried to stick to, and it was officially the first one where Linh was beginning to confront the things she was feeling. Everything felt so much stiffer and robotic. The brief interactions between her and Sophie felt forced and so unnatural that even Sandor had noticed and become uncomfortable with the situation, alongside the rest of the gang.

Linh had watched Sandor pull Sophie aside earlier in the eve, and her heart had wildly pounded in her throat for fear of Sandor saying something that would give away Linh and her silly fantasies. Linh hadn't directly told Sandor how she was feeling for his charge - or at least how she thought she might feel because she still had one foot left in the denial stage - but she knew he was skilled at observing the things happening around him.

And if he had come to the conclusion that Linh was acting like an awkward, gangly teenager around her because. . .

Sandor hadn't confronted Linh on the issue, though and neither had Sophie, so all seemed well. However, Linh did notice that Sophie had joined her in not making direct eye contact, blushing if they sat too close to one another, or even stuttering over the simplest sentences if they had to interact and speak with one another.

Linh couldn't help herself, but even in her flustered mess, she got those stupid butterflies fizzling in her stomach at how pretty Sophie looked while tainted red.

But right then, in the dark of the room and curled up asleep on the floor, she looked even more precious and dazzling. Her wild tendrils of golden hair were splayed across the ground and her skin glowed in the dim light. There was an eyelash on her cheek and Linh reached across the way to brush it off tenderly, smiling to herself in the dark.

That night had ruined her. She'd stayed awake the rest of the time, all the way until dawn brushed the horizon steadily and the sun peeked at the earth's surface. She stayed awake, too troubled for sleep. She stayed awake, knowing she would never get the one happy ending she wanted.

 **_'Cause I'm a beautiful wreck  
_ ** **_A colorful mess, but I'm funny_ **

Sophie Foster had never been skilled at interpreting her feelings. She could occasionally read other people correctly, and pinpoint what it was that was causing their mood, but doing it to herself was tricky.

It seemed like it should have been the easiest thing in the world. Reading your own emotions - how hard could that possibly be? Everybody knows for themselves what they are and are not feeling.

At least, that's how it should work. But there were times when Sophie just couldn't sift through her tangled cobweb of emotions. There were times where she couldn't decipher or pinpoint exactly what she was feeling or the cause of that stem of emotions.

Right now was one of those times.

It all began a few months prior to her latest weird interaction with Linh. The first time the delicate girl had started to act weird around her, Sophie had panicked, thinking she had done something to initiate the behaviour. She'd tried to get Linh back to acting natural, and had even asked her if she had done anything, but in the process, she had only ended up acting awkward herself and Linh had flatly lied at her with a squeaky, "N-No! It's not you. I'm just. . . having an off day."

She wasn't irritated or displeased with Linh for avoiding her or acting fidgety around her, she was just concerned with what had produced the sudden. . .performance. Linh was a naturally reserved, shy girl who always had a flush of pink tainting her cheeks, so it wasn't rare to see her avoiding eye contact or fumbling with the hem of her long sleeves as she stuttered over her words. But over the years, the group had become so tight-knit and open about their experiences and feelings that they were practically one person, mind-melded together. Thus, you didn't see too much of Linh who was scared or put-off by another member of the group.

And Sophie understood Linh was acting that way because of her. However, she didn't know what she had done that was causing her to be unsettled.

So, she decided to try and make the black-haired beauty tell her. It was during one of their monthly sleepovers, and Keefe had (non-surprisingly spontaneously) suggested they play Base Quest. They never seemed to play the game as often as they had before, and Tam and Linh were still figuring out the point of the game. Well, more-so Tam was figuring out the point of playing the game.

He always complained that choosing to run around the damp, humid forest and duck into bushes for cover and safety from being tagged was a waste of their time. He said time would have been better spent sitting together inside the house.

At first, Sophie had mentally rolled her eyes and smiled at how Tam always acted either mellow or sour (there was practically no in between- he was missing over half of the Elvin spectrum of emotions). But then Sophie took a second to re-evaluate what she had heard, and she realized that Tam had technically admitted he enjoyed sitting down and having deep conversations with them.

In reaction, Sophie had burst into a little fit of 'aww's and had relentlessly brought it up to the other boy. He shook his head every time she teased him about it, his bangs shaking on his forehead as he denied the allegations.

The one time he was very passionate in denying that it was true, Sophie had risen a challenging eyebrow and swooped in towards him, hugging him tightly, which practically made him choke on his protests. Linh had giggled in response from behind, silver-blue crystalline eyes glittering as her bubbly laughter made goosebumps rise on Sophie's skin.

The two had locked eyes, then, for a brief second and Sophie could have sworn Linh looked just as awe-stricken as she did. But just as soon as it was there, it was gone and Sophie shook it off, trying to ignore whatever it was. Why would Linh look at her in that way?

Why. . . Why was Sophie looking at her in that way? Naturally, every eye was drawn to Linh, because of her talent and beauty and overall adorable demeanour. . .

Wait, what was she thinking?

After that moment occurred, Linh had scurried off, acting standoffish again, which reminded Sophie of what she had wanted to do. She was going to find out what Linh was doing and why.

**_Oh, I'm a heartbreak vet  
With a stone-cold neck, yeah, I'm charming_ **

It worked out perfectly, as if according to some unspoken plan, that Linh was on the opposite team of Sophie. Linh's team had one more person, however, since they found it was a 'disadvantage' or it was 'unfair' that the other group had Sophie. In response, the blonde had simply rolled her eyes.

After separating the forest and naming the boundaries, as well as choosing a base, the two teams began to quest after one another. Sophie's boots squished on the muddy earth as she ran, eyes closed in concentration as she tracked Linh's location in her mind. She'd pinpointed exactly where she stood on the estate, and she was moving in quickly.

She needed to catch her off guard, though, because if Linh found she was coming, the delicate girl would run. Yes, the aim of the game was not to get tagged, and she would run away even if she didn't have a problem with Sophie. But the blonde knew that Linh would be running because she didn't want to have a confrontation.

Sophie slowed her pace when she knew Linh was very near, following the imaginary trail to her. She gulped in the air quickly as a result of running for a while, and her heart hammered in her chest as her nerves tingled. What was she even going to say?

She tugged her ponytail tighter to try and take her mind off of her stumbling feet and where they were taking her. She tried to keep as silent as possible, but she just couldn't manage to make her breathing steadier. Her brown eyes widened as they landed on the perfect glimpse of Linh through the trees, and for a split second, she considered chickening out.

Instead, she reminded herself of what she needed to do and that nothing would change if she sat there idly and permitted Linh to act all weird.

Sophie peeked around the thick trunks of the dark trees, watching as Linh gathered moisture in the air and swirled it all around, just being herself and messing around in the still silence of the woods. She could've stared forever and observed the twitch at the corner of the girl's lips, the way she rapidly blinked her eyes, the way she occasionally twirled around which caused her long ponytail to swish.

Sophie swallowed and tugged on the end of her own ponytail again, a little caught on the fact that they were both wearing ponytails. It was the most stupid, childish detail to pay attention to, but somehow the smallest thing seemed to make her feel closer to Linh.

Linh did another twirl, laughing a little to herself when she accidentally went straight through a gathering cloud of mist she had been created. Her skin shone in the dim, gray light from the fairly cloudy sky and she chuckled, leaning against a tree trunk. She began wiping away the moisture around her eyes before she started lifting it from her clothes lazily, flicking her wrist here and there for added dramatic effect.

Sophie noticed how she tended to do that. She didn't need to, not with how far her ability and talent stretched, but sometimes she just did it anyway.

The blonde tugged out an itchy eyelash, readying herself and trying to ignore the way her stomach started to uncomfortably cramp under her knotted nerves. She took long strides, turning it into a little jog when Linh opened her eyes in alarm at the sudden noise. The shocked looked on Linh's face indicated that she had in fact not heard Sophie's heavy breathing a few moments before, which actually surprised Sophie.

Before Linh had the time to bolt like she looked as she so wanted to do, Sophie pinned the girl against the tree, still panting from her earlier running and the insistent, terrified pitter-patter of her heart. Both of her hands were on either side of her head, nestled near her shoulders and neck, completely boxing her in. Linh, upon realizing she was trapped, swallowed and squirmed backward into the bark of the tree as much as she possibly could.

"Sophie," Linh squeaked timidly, noticing the bit of an angry flush to Sophie's cheeks. Sophie's elegant eyebrows were lightly pressed and she assumed that Linh had a suspicion that Sophie was not 'happy' with her, per say.

The two girls were exactly the same height, so brown eyes squarely met her silver-blue ones, each of them sucking in a little air at the proximity of their bodies and the warmth floating between the two of them. Sophie fluttered her eyelids and lashes, blushing faintly as she cleared her throat, craning back to allow more space between their faces. The added space caused Linh's hot breath to leave her chilly cheeks, lips, and the tip of her nose. She missed the warmth instantly. However, she was also thankful for it, because being so close made her. . .

She couldn't even find a way to describe how utterly insane it drove her.

With her heart and stomach down past her knees - and probably collected inside her tall wedge boots - she took in a shaky breath to gather her confidence. "You've been avoiding me," she said, her voice just barely clipped and tight. She hadn't meant for so much emotion to seep in. In fact, she hadn't even known how much it had hurt her until that moment. A wave of emotions crashed into her, overwhelming her to the point where she was biting the inside of her cheek, trying not to let a few tears sting her eyes.

Linh noticed and frowned, looking guilty. "Oh, I didn't. . . I–I wasn't. . . I never meant. . ." She chewed on her lower lip and blinked leisurely as she watched Sophie fight to gain control over her own emotions. "I was only. . ."

Sophie watched her sadly when Linh cut herself off yet again, unable to form the correct words. Sophie could tell that Linh knew it was a delicate topic at this point and she wanted to tread as carefully as possible. Linh was just that way - always looking out for others.

Linh looked utterly guilty, her face flooded with the heat of shame, even though she was the one pinned up against the tree. Even in the state of being trapped, she was the one clearly concerned for Sophie's well-being and feelings.

When Linh didn't speak for a spell, Sophie blew out a shaky breath and closed her eyes for a second, gathering her thoughts and words. She fluttered her eyelids open, catching Linh's gaze. "I just want to know why you've been avoiding me. And I know you're going to deny it, but I'm not angry about that. It's just natural to deny allegations like this. I—"

"You're talking in big words again," Linh mumbled, the corners of her lips tugging upwards.

"W–What?" Sophie stuttered, slowly turning redder as each second ticked by. She thought over her words, trying to come up with a defense. " 'Allegations' isn't a. . ."

Linh's glossy lips twitched knowingly as Sophie's defenses fell - and utmostly failed - as her face flushed with heated colour, a pool of rosy red and pastel pink and everything in between. It was a warm, glorious colour that added to her natural, untamed beauty.

And right then, in their stillness, a figure jogged up behind them breathlessly and interrupted them. Sophie was sure that if they hadn't, Linh and she would have sat there for hours more, standing and staring at one another, taking in the details of their face.

_**All the pretty girls in the world** _  
_**But I'm in this space with you** _  
_**Colored out the lines** _  
_**I came to find, my fire was fate with you** _  
_**Heartache would stay with you** _  
_**Fly great escapes with you** _

And now, over six weeks later, Linh couldn't stop thinking about that moment. She'd never been in that proximity of Sophie before. So near, close, touchable.

God, that girl made her  _crazy_.

"Linh?"

Linh blinked quickly, snapping out of her daydreams. Her surroundings rushed back and she remembered where she was, and why. The person before her came into focus, with their black, unruly hair and flash of glinting silver hanging over their forehead. Tam's eye held an emotion rarely given to other people outside their friend group - worry. He held it in his silver-blue eyes for her, which made her let out a small sniffle.

Realization rushed through her body at how sad - and suddenly sick - she was feeling.

Linh had fled upstairs to Sophie's room when, downstairs, during breakfast, Keefe had made a comment on how she was acting around Sophie. He hadn't publicly announced it to everyone in the room, so she was sure it could have been much worse, but it still felt weird to know pairs of blue eyes (save one pair of brown) had followed them as Keefe pulled her off to the side for a private conversation.

Linh had blinked her eyes steadily, heart racing in her chest as Keefe ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He did that when he was nervous, much like Fitz. Though, Fitz did seem to do it more often when he was frustrated or under pressure.

The tiny action would have made any other girl swoon or gush, but it merely had no effect on Linh. It simply brought back past memories of harder times and made her realize how much she really knew her friends. The fact that she immediately knew that had been an act of anxiety surprised even herself.

Keefe snapped her out of her daydream. "Hey," he said, gaining her attention. His eyes flickered over to Sophie, who had been trying to subtly eye them. The blonde turned away, giving them the space they needed, so Keefe took that as his signal to continue.

"So. . . This is just my own observation, and I may be wrong, but I've been picking up some. . . Tension? I think that's the best word to use."

"T-Tension?" Linh repeated timidly, twining her hair between her fingers. She had cut it awhile back, with everyone's support, snipping off the melted silver tips. It had grown much quicker afterward, but Linh had missed the silver ends, and with the help of Biana and Sophie, she had managed to dye them. It wasn't anything near what it had originally been, but it was a nice reminder.

Keefe nodded, watching her fingers fumbled and twiddle with her waist-length hair. "Between you and. . . Sophie."

Her fingers faltered, freezing. Her eyes widened slightly. It wasn't enough to be seen from afar, but up close, Keefe had definitely noticed. "Sophie?" she squeaked.

He nodded to confirm, taking note of her high-pitched, anxious tone that had taken over. He also took into consideration, the fact that Linh was simply repeating whatever he said to her. "You're. . . acting off. And Sophie's emotions are all wonky."

Linh swallowed, trying to gain composure. "Nothing's going on," she lied. She knew there was something going on, but she would never admit it straight up to someone. She'd put too much work into trying to cover it up.

"Linh," Keefe said, calling her attention. "You know it's okay to. . ."

He gestured in Sophie's general direction as if that just ended his sentence perfectly. As if she didn't need to have him fill in the blank aloud.

He really didn't. She wished it was needed, but the dots were too easy to connect.

Linh shook her head and squared her shoulders, shrugging as if it was nothing. As if she didn't really understand what he was implying. "I don't know what you're talking about."

It was the blandest lie that just made her look stupid, but at that moment she couldn't have cared less. She'd built up so many walls and barricades to try and prevent people from seeing what she really felt towards Sophie, and she wasn't about to have them knocked down by the guy who had seemed completely taken by her years before.

Keefe pursed his lips and his eyebrows pressed together as he looked her over like she was some sort of puzzle that needed to be rearranged and solved. But soon that look faded and he sighed. "Linh, I've been where you are right now," he said as if he knew what she had been thinking. "But I don't know what you're going through with this. . . attraction, simply because people have different views on same-"

 _"Attraction?"_ Linh repeated the accusation, more snappily than intended. "I'm not - why do you -  _Keefe_."

"Linh," Keefe replied, looking at her pointedly, with his brown eyebrows raised. He ran a hand through his hair, disheveling it after they stared at each other for a few silent seconds, unsure of how to proceed. "I never said it was bad. None of us think that's bad. You know that, right?"

A lump formed in the girl's throat, her eyes beginning to sting with tears. "Leave me alone," she whispered. "Please. You've got it all wrong."

He took her arm, determined. "I can _feel_ what you're  _feeling_. I'm not trying to be rude or invade your privacy or personal boundaries, but you need to understand that we've all noticed. Alright? And Sophie's oblivious, as always, but we want you to know we support you. With whatever you claim you're going through."

"I'm not -" She shook her head, tugging her arm away. "I need some time alone."

Keefe's hand dropped to his side, and for a moment he seemed too shocked to say anything. But then he nodded. "Okay," he agreed.

That brought her back to the present moment.

"Linh," the voice repeated, crouching down to her level on the floor. She was on her knees, focusing on breathing.

"I don't know what to do, Tam. I don't know what I'm feeling, and I don't know how to deal with it. I don't  _want_  to deal with it, but. . ."

 _But I also do_.

Tam placed a supportive hand on her back, showing that he was  _there_  as he began rubbing a slow circle over her shoulder blades. "I know," was all he said.

It was all he needed to say.

_**I countdown to the clock, saw you awake** _  
_**Don't walk away, or would you wait for me?** _  
_**I go out to the bar, fuck hangin' with the stars** _  
_**Don't even have a car, but you would wait for me** _

Sophie didn't know what else to do except extend the time her friends were staying over. She needed to talk to Linh at some point - Keefe urged her to.

He had come up to her after she had watched Linh flee upstairs, and she had assumed it was because he had felt worry blossom in the pit of her stomach. But then he started saying things that she. . . Didn't want to talk about out loud. Not with him, not with so many people around.

She loved Keefe, but she just. . . Needed some topics like that to stay as private conversations with herself.

After Keefe finished speaking to her, she felt more awkward and jitterish than she had before, but it also felt as if a certain weight had been lifted off her chest.

Then Edaline talked to her, which was most definitely not been the highlight of her day. Her mom had always wanted to be involved in the romantic aspect of Sophie's life and it had taken all of Sophie's power to convince her mom that that was not what was happening with Linh. Because it just. . . wasn't. Right?

Edaline had given her a look of disbelief but thankfully dropped the topic. "However," her mom had continued, when she'd tried to slip away back to her cluster of friends. They were gathered in the living room, probably whispering about all that was happening. She didn't want to make everything weird for them, but deep down she knew that had crossed that mile marker _waaayyy_ back.

"I think you should ask your friends if they're available to stay a bit longer. Just for the day and however long they'd like. Would you be okay with that?"

Sophie blinked, surprised her mom wanted to extend her friend's stay. It wasn't like Edaline didn't like them, she just naturally assumed that her mom got a bit tired of having seven teenagers cooped up in her house (not that it was, by any means, a small house).

"Mhm," Sophie assured. "I'll ask them."

And Sophie just knew right then and there that something was going to happen. A piece of the puzzle would shift into place. Someone would  _cave_.

She'd tried denying the things she had begun to feel months back, but they only seemed to fester and grow. And now? Now it was definitely too late to try and take a step back. She was all in and she hoped with everything in her that Linh was too.

She asked her friends just as Edaline had told her to - and Sophie was glad to find that Linh had come back from upstairs - and to no surprise they all accepted. There were a few hails here and there, save for Keefe and Tam and Linh. Sophie was sure Dex and Fitz and Biana had wanted to confirm with their parents, but Sophie knew her remaining friends' home lives were different. That's just the way it was and, so, she didn't blame them for not wanting to make an unnecessary call.

After that, Sophie had hoped and prayed that the rest of the day would be a breeze. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side, and fate took its hold on the wheel.

She had thought her last conversation about Linh would be with her mom, but Dex eventually pulled her aside.

She knew what he wanted to talk about right away - she could see it in his eyes. In the way he held his hands and the way he had a nervous flush on his cheeks. She could tell he didn't like talking about it as much as she did, but it clearly needed to be discussed. Whether they wanted to or not.

"Sophie," he started out.

She blew out a shaky breath, bobbing her head up and down. "I know." she said. "I'm working on it. It's just. . . really difficult."

Dex nodded, biting his lip. His eyes flickered up to hers. "You like her," he finished.

Sophie held his gaze, brown eyes welling. "Yes," she whispered, voice cracking.

_**All, all, all, all the pretty girls in the world** _  
_**But I'm in this space with you**_  
_**Colored out the lines**_  
_**I came to find, my fire was fate with you**_  
_**My heartache would stay with you**_  
_**Escape with you**_

Linh was still crouched down, her head buried in her hands when they came back to the room. Tam had left around five minutes ago, leaving Linh to focus on slow, steady breaths.

"Linh?"

She tensed, freezing in place. That was  _not_ Tam.

Linh took her face out of her hands, brushing her black hair out of her face as she stood up. She turned around to the face of an angel, and she looped and wrung her hands nervously. "Hi," she greeted timidly.

Her face was stretched into a weak smile, but her cheeks were flushed as she watched the angel.

"I'm sorry," Sophie began. "For everything that's been happening. For how I've been trying to. . . ignore. . .  _this_." She gestured between the two of them, and Linh's heart flipped to hummingird mode.

Both of the girls' faces were absolutely on fire, and both couldn't help but admire how adorable it made the other look.

Linh took a few tentative, slow steps forward looking Sophie directly in her eyes to ensure that she was okay with her taking away the huge space between them. Linh got about an arm's width away from her angel, watching her long lashes flutter curiously.

"I didn't mean to avoid you or not talk to you or anything," Linh promised. "I just didn't know how to talk to you. I didn't want to make it awkward. But I guess. . . I did."

Sophie shook her head, her blonde tendrils of hair pooling over her shoulders and flipping with her head motion. "No," she assured. "I did it, too. And I didn't feel ignored - not really. I. . ."

She swallowed, her cheeks blossoming with beautiful colour.

"We were both nervous," Linh finished.

"Yeah," Sophie agreed, looking down at Linh's twining fingers. Linh stared down at them, too, unable to look the angel directly in her eyes anymore.

She jumped a little when she noticed Sophie's outstretched hand. She tentatively grazed her fingers along Linh's hand, silently asking the question that her voice couldn't.

Linh looked up for a split second, catching Sophie's shy smile. Linh unthreaded her fingers and joined her shaky hands with Sophie's. They were both clammy, but the tingling warmth overtook that.

"Linh. . . I like you," Sophie admitted, her voice coming out so soft that it was barely a breath.

Linh's heart lodged in her throat. "You do?" she squeaked.

Sophie managed a small laugh at how nervous Linh was. She rose a shaky hand and tucked a strand of Linh's hair behind her ear. Linh couldn't help but lean into her hand.

Sophie's face was burning, matching Linh's extremely pink cheeks. "I. . . I was afraid to tell you. I didn't know if you felt the same way."

"Me too. . ." Linh agreed.

Sophie blinked. "W-What?" she asked softly.

Linh smiled at her always-oblivious angel. "I like you," she chirped, her usual bubbliness slowly returning. "I've liked you for a long time, actually, I just. . . Didn't know if I should say anything."

Sophie looked down at their intertwined hands, trying to hide the smile tugging at her lips. She rubbed her thumb over the top of Linh's hand. "Well. . . What now?" she squeaked.

Linh shrugged, even though she had a handful of ideas pocketed in the back of her mind. She'd been daydreaming for a  _long_  time, about. . .

Her eyes drifted back up into her angel's, both girls lost in the other's gaze.

And Linh straightened up and without any regrets, she cupped Sophie's face and captured her lips in a gentle kiss.

**_I like my girls just like I like my honey, sweet_ **  
**_A little selfish, huh_ **  
**_I like my women like I like my money, green_ **  
**_A little jealous_ **  
**_Oh, I'm a beautiful wreck_ **  
**_A colorful mess, but I'm funny_ **  
**_Oh, I'm a heartbreak vet_ **  
**_With a stone-cold neck, I'm so charming, oh, oh_ **

At first Sophie was so shocked at Linh's spur-of-the-moment decision that she couldn't respond. She hadn't thought Linh would do a thing like that - it seemed so out of character. But. . .

She couldn't deny that she liked it.

A lot.

Sophie started kissing back, both their minds and bodies thrumming with buzzing energy. Their mouths melded together softly, and Linh's hands on Sophie's cheeks made the skin tingle wherever the girl touched.

Both girls broke away with a gasp, eyes drooping and fluttering, faces blushing in sweltering heat.

"I'm sorry," Linh apologized, her voice a little hoarse after the kiss. "Are you sure you want to. . ?"

Sophie dipped her chin. "I'm sure."

**_Isn't love all we need? Is it love?_ **

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoyed!
> 
> you can also find me on ~  
> tumblr as @theunmappedstar (fics, memes, textposts)  
> wattpad as @theunmappedstar (fics, original stories)


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